Month: May 2010

The Seattle Emergency Management folks continue to stress the Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare program. SNAP involves local citizens and neighborhood associations doing three things to prepare for an emergency or disaster.

This campaign focuses on three easy steps that don’t take a lot of time, don’t cost a lot of money, and best of all, get people on their way to being safe and self-sufficient after any emergency or disaster. The more we prepare today, the less we’ll worry about later! For questions, give the Office of Emergency Management a call at 206-233-5076 for more information or go to the website.

Coming up for West Seattle is a SNAP class (personal preparedness and neighborhood organization) on Tuesday, June 8, 6:30 pm -7:45 pm, Delridge Branch Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW.[mappress]

Stop by the West Seattle Tool Library on June 12 between 9 am and 2 pm for our Grand Opening!

Be there at 12:30 for the ribbon cutting and pizza from Red Star Pizza!!

You’ll be able to see the entire collection, check out tools, see tool demonstrations and even donate more tools if you haven’t had a chance to clean out your garage yet. All donations are tax-deductible.

The Tool Library is located on the North end of South Seattle Community College (at the horticulture area). For more information about the West Seattle Tool Library, including hours and other details, visit http://www.sustainablewestseattle.org/tool-library.

Great City is hosting a discussion on Transition Seattle at GGLO Space at the Steps, 1301 First Ave., Level A, this Thursday, June 10, from noon to 1:30 pm. Enter through door located about 1/4 of the way down the Harbor Steps.

Transition Seattle is an organization that supports and encourages local networks of community groups in building resilient, re-localized economies, jobs and communities as we prepare to weather the challenges of peak oil, climate change and economic uncertainty. To raise awareness about the chronic addiction to carbon-based fuels that underpins every aspect of our lives, Transition Seattle organizes classes, movies, meetings, parties and other informal get-togethers. By writing long-term Energy Descent Action Plans, Transition Seattle will take the lead on engaging the community and local authorities on the neighborhood and regional scale. These plans will include ideas for how Seattle is going to respond in a resilient, positive way as energy costs soar and impact all systems including transportation, food, and public health and safety.

Leo Brodie is a co-founder of Transition Seattle and serves on the Steering Committee of Sustainable NE Seattle, which is both a SCALLOPS (Sustainable Communities ALL Over Puget Sound) group and an official Transition Initiative. Leo and his wife, Cynthia Clay, own and run a training and development company (NetSpeed Learning Solutions). Leo holds a Permaculture Design Certification and is the author of several books on computer programming.

Ron Harris-White is a loaned Seattle Public Utilities Executive working for the Seattle Parks & Recreation Superintendent’s Office. Ron develops strategies for the organization as it relates to community building and manages the City’s Clean & Green Seattle Initiative and is currently Parks’ liaison to the Mayor’s Office on issues related to urban food systems. For the past few years, Ron’s assignments have involved the City of Seattle’s grassroots climate action campaign and the development of Seattle’s Race & Social Justice Initiative. A National Urban Fellow, Ron has more than twenty years of professional experience in policy, public relations, local government relations and strategic planning. Included in a long list of successful strategies are the Cedar River Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan, City of Seattle ESA response and Seattle Public Utilities water conservation efforts. Ron has received several awards for his work including the 2008 Seattle Management’s Award for program excellence, 2008 ASPA Annual Conference Presenter, 2007 Seattle Management Association Award for Management, 2003 NW Emmy Award for “Salmon in the City.” Ron holds two masters degrees and currently co-chairs the King County Food and Fitness Initiative (KCFFI).

Phyllis Shulman has worked for twelve years as a Senior Legislative Advisor to Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin. She is responsible for strategic policy recommendations, civic engagement, and development of new initiatives on a myriad of issues effecting Seattle and the region. She is currently assisting Councilmember Conlin in implementing a broad policy initiative–the Resilient City Strategy–which involves integrating policy and programs related to climate change and adaptation, carbon neutrality, local food policy, economic renewal, emergency preparedness, social justice, neighborhood planning and environmental policy. She also has the honor of working on a number of complex regional transportation issues including the replacement of SR 520 and the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Cathy Tuttle, Ph.D. spent seven years working for the City of Seattle as a planner for the Planning Commission and Seattle Parks, before she decided to build community from the community side of the equation. Cathy is now helping to launch and coordinate many community groups including Transition Seattle, SCALLOPS, Sustainable Wallingford, Spokespeople and 350 Washington State. Cathy writes for Urban Farm Hub, and is on the Boards of Seattle Tilth and Wallingford Community Council.

Steam meets, free and open to the public, are held on the 2nd Saturday of each month, from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. Steam meets include operating hot gas, gasoline, air, and steam engines, beverages, snacks, and guided plant tours including oral history and dynamic display of plant engines. Cited below are some links to videos and photos of this local but hardly-known cultural and engineering feature:

The Seattle Parks Board June 10 meeting will be at the Activity Resource Center at Woodland Park Zoo, – located near the West Entry. Commissioners will tour the new West Entry at 5:00 pm. Members of the public are welcome.

Approve June 10 Agenda; May 13 and 27 minutes; Acknowledgment of Correspondence

II. Superintendent’s Report 7:05

III. Oral Requests and Communication from the Audience 7:20 (for subjects that have not had or are not scheduled for a public hearing) NOTE: Speakers will be limited to 2 or 3 minutes each, to be determined by the chair and based upon # of people testifying. A maximum of 10 minutes testimony will be heard during Oral Requests portion of the agenda. Testimony in excess of 10 minutes will be heard prior to “Old/New Business”

*Times listed for all agenda items are approximate & agenda items may not be taken in the order listed. Please address all correspondence to: voice mail: 206 684-5066 or Sandy Brooks, Coordinator e-mail: sandy.brooks@seattle.gov

It is important that we hear from all members of the community. Whether you’re in the library several times a week or you haven’t used us in years, the Library wants to hear from you. According to Susan Hildreth, the Library’s goal is to provide services and resources that meet your needs and the survey is one means for library staff to help assess that requirement.

The survey will be available through Sunday, May 16. It is part of the Library’s strategic planning process, which is generously funded by The Seattle Public Library Foundation. For more information, please visit Strategic Planning on the Seattle Public Library website http://www.spl.org.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Associated Recreation Council (ARC) invite youth ages 14-18 to apply for work as interns in the Recreation Technology or “RecTech” program for this coming 2010 Summer.

These internships provide young people with important skills in today’s tech-savvy world. The program will bring them up to date on various tech skills and help make them more employable.

There are openings for interns in these technology areas in:

Digital Darkroom and Photojournalism at Delridge Community Center. This internship will provide an overview of the digital imaging process and will cover the basics of photojournalism.

Video Production at Garfield Community Center. In this session, the interns will spend the summer behind a camera and holding a microphone. It will include workshops in video production, theater, and creative writing.

Web Design at South Park Community Center. Interns in this program will learn web design, graphic design, HTML, and interactive animations.

All internships run from July 12 through August 26, Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.

Applicants should be sure:

They are enrolled in high school during the 2010-11 school year, or graduated in 2010.

They have some skills in computer and Internet basics and common software applications, or a desire to learn them.

They have good interpersonal skills, including the desire to work with others.